Für Elise
by Sixty Five Roses
Summary: Sharon and Andy are spending a quiet evening with Gavin and his life partner. The situation becomes emotional when Gavin asks Sharon to play them her favorite musical piece.


**A/N** **: This is a spontanuous piece I wrote. Just like Für Elise, it's short and dedicated it to all my lovely readers and Tumblr followers.  
** **For such a short piece, it required a lot of research and I hope I've done Beethoven's masterpiece justice, as it's one of my favorite musical pieces.**

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The music came from within, he could tell. It was haunting and ethereal in a way he's never heard before. Generally, he didn't listen to classical music, but everyone in the modern world knew this particular musical piece. He remembered struggling to play it as a kid, when his mother forced him to take piano lessons. When that didn't work, his mother tried to make him join the boy choir at his church. That went even worse than learning how to play the piano. He hated every moment of it until eventually he managed to convince his mother that he was better at sports than playing instruments or singing. He considered picking up an instrument when he was in high school, but the memory of the hours he spent in front of the piano made him give it up completely.

Despite the dislike he felt for playing music, he held great appreciation for anyone who could play any instrument. He knew how much effort and tenacity it took to master even a short musical piece. So discovering that Sharon could play the piano and was quite a prodigy in her youth made him fall in love with her a little more.

She didn't have a piano at her home, which she explained to him was for a lack of room. She had to sell it when she moved to her condo at the Los Feliz Towers. He wished he could buy her a new one, but she would still have nowhere to put it.

"She's incredible, isn't she?" Gavin whispered. They were spending a quiet evening with Gavin and his husband Ted when the brilliant and sassy lawyer suggested that she play for them. Sharon resisted at first but after Gavin leaned in and whispered something in her ear, she placed her wine glass (which actually had apple juice in it, for Andy's sake) on the coffee table and walked to the beautiful wooden grand piano and took a seat. Gavin asked her to play her favorite piece and Sharon hummed softly as she gently placed her hands above the keys. Andy recognized the piece instantly. It was the same piece he struggled over as a child. Für Elise.

He could tell the piece came to her with ease, and she closed her eyes briefly while playing, her fingers skillfully gliding over the black and white keys, producing a heavenly melody. Andy's could feel himself becoming lighter as he watched Sharon, with her eyes half closed and her body rocking back and forth ever so slightly as she played. There was something ghostly about the way she played it, as if every note that came from under her fingers left a physical impression on everyone in the room, herself included, but could not be seen. Even though he was sitting a few feet away from where the piano was located, he could tell by the expression on her face and her subtle body movements that she was becoming increasingly emotional with every note. He was doing the same thing from his seat. It was captivating, in a way Andy could not describe. He could feel the serenity that the first notes of the piece gave off, and then when her expressions changed, he felt hopelessness. When she moved into playing the lighter part, he could feel the despair gradually mixing with happiness, although never rising to the level of bliss. Then it dropped again as she repeated the piece's original theme, slowly descending into the last part, once again conveying despair and anguish that brought the piece to its end. Andy's breath got caught in his lungs.

Tears shone in her eyes when she opened them and Gavin and Ted clapped. It took Andy a moment to wake up from his reverie and join their clapping. Sharon offered a shy smile and got up from the piano bench and walked back to sit next to Andy. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently drew her to his side.

"You have no idea what you did to me," he whispered in her ear. "I never heard Für Elise being played this way." She thanked him breathlessly and he kissed her temple. "Does it mean anything specific to you?"

"Beethoven was in love with the woman for whom he wrote this, but his love was not reciprocated. People think that Elise is the name of the woman he wrote this for, but the truth is, during the time Beethoven was alive, the word Elise was used to describe someone's sweetheart," Sharon explained.

"So the name actually means 'For my sweetheart'? Andy wondered. Sharon hummed in affirmation. "So who were you thinking about when you played?" Considering the dark nature of the musical piece and Sharon's past experiences with love, Andy wondered if the piece reminded her of Jack. That would certainly explain her emotional reaction to it.

"I was thinking of Emily," Sharon started. "And Ricky and Rusty," she smiled and her eyes shone again. "And you."

"Your children and me?" Andy was surprised to find himself on the list. "I thought you said it was a song about unrequited love."

"It's about love and the beauty of it, and also the pain that it sometimes brings, but mainly, about love itself," Sharon replied. Andy could not describe the warmth that was coiling inside his chest. It was an odd mix of pride and love and… butterflies. "You, all of you…" Sharon looked at Gavin and Ted and then back at Andy. "Are my Elise."

"You're our Elise too, honey," Gavin replied.

"We should make a toast to that," Ted declared and lifted his wine glass. Sharon and Andy took their glasses of apple juice and lifted them as well.

"For Elise!," Gavin called out.

"For Elise!"

THE END

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 **As always, I'd love to know what you thought about this story, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.**


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